Solvang Training Camp - Day 2

Day 2 - Drum Canyon Time Trial. This ride started out with an easy (well, OK, it wasn't totally easy) ride, maybe 15 miles, to the start of the time trial. It was cold out for the start of the ride, maybe 40 degrees and very cold in the shade. Once I stepped into the sunshine, it wasn't too bad. Each camper was given a bag to put in the SAG (support and gear) vehicles. These bags could include extra clothes, nutrition and whatever else you thought you might need throughout the ride. Since I was wearing nearly every piece of clothing I brought, I put a couple of packages of Luna Moons and a Clif Bar in my bag and proceeded to throw it in my designated van. I felt very awkward when I got on my bike. This is not unusual, since I hadn't been on my bike outdoors since November. I felt a little shaky and riding in a group of people I wasn't used to riding with made me quite uneasy. I dropped a water bottle within the first 15 minutes of the ride. Thankfully, no one in the group hit it and we continued on.

We got to the start of this time trial and I was told it was flat for the first couple of miles and then it was uphill for the last 3 miles. The key (or so I heard) was to not blast out too fast because you'd be dying by the end of it. All the groups met up and the SAG vehicles pulled up. I was quite toasty now and seeing as this was going to be a hard effort, I stripped down to just a jersey and shorts. I even switched to half-finger gloves, so it must've been warming up! I saw one of the more experienced cyclists also putting both his water bottles in his SAG bag. Said he didn't need the extra weight. I didn't think a water bottle was going to make a difference, but I took one out and left one on the bike. The campers were swarmed around the back of the van, stuffing clothes into their bags and bananas and Clif Bars in their mouths. I put my stuff in the bag and threw it in the van as fast as I could. It was organized chaos and I wanted to get away from it as fast as I could.

I got to the start line where one of our support crew stood there with a watch, starting cyclists about every 20 seconds. The rep from Saris was at the front of the line coaching us through resetting our Power Taps so we could accurately record the needed information (average watts, time and kjs). I was happy that I had attended his talk the day before because I knew how to reset my info.

Before I could even get nervous about the ride, it was my turn. I took off but made sure not to overexert myself in the first couple of miles. I can also tell you that it didn't feel all that "flat" to me. I was passed more times than I care to recall, and then the uphill started. I down shifted. Then again...and again...soon I was in my lowest gear and I had brought a 12-27. You've got to be kidding me! I was going so slow! I checked my rear tire several times...I was sure it was flat. Nope. That's just me going slow. Passed again...and again...I stop counting the dudes passing me. The road winds and, in true IMWI fashion, around every curve, it goes uphill even more. I start to wonder if this is longer than 5 miles because it sure is taking me a very long time to ride this! (for the record, everyone went under 30 minutes) This was taking FOREVER! Sweat was pouring down my face and I was so happy I took off all those extra clothes. It was so quiet out there, I could hear myself breathing loudly with each pedal stroke. It was extremely difficult not to get up out of the saddle, but I didn't want to further damage the hamstring.

Finally, there was a mark on the road indicating that I had just 2K left. What felt like a half our later was a 1K mark. Jeez, how much further is 1K? Then I could hear a cow bell and Robbie yelling and cheering people to the finish. Sounded like it was just around the corner. Up, up and yet further up the road was going. There were hairpin turns and I could hear the voices, but come ON ALREADY, where ARE THESE GUYS!?? How much further? Just as the road began to get steeper, I made another turn and I could see Robbie Ventura standing in the middle of the road. He would start yelling the names of the cyclists as they got close to the end.

The finish was rather uneventful because it ended on a slight uphill, so no one came flying through. There was a small collection of cyclists about 200 yards up the road discussing the ride and comparing wattage. I slowly rode past them to begin the descent. We were warned the night before that the descent was fast and dangerous. The road was rough. There were many potholes and lots of shade on the road so, in many cases, you couldn't see the pothole until you were just about to ride through it. They say not to be tense as you ride down, but that was near impossible. My hands were on the brakes almost the entire descent. Any time I took one hand off, just to stop it from cramping, I picked up too much speed, got scared and had to put my hand back on the brakes again. Many of the more experienced cyclists flew right past me, sometimes scaring the crap out of me not just because they were going so fast, but they came a little too close.

My hands ached by the time I got to the bottom. The SAG vehicles were down there waiting for us so I put my extra water bottle back in, grabbed something to eat and went back to my bike and waited for the rest of the group to join us. We were to finish with an easy ride home which I didn't find so easy. The group took several stops along the way to let everyone catch up. It was now pretty warm outside and the scenery was beautiful. All of us were happy to be outside on our bikes!

As soon as we got back to the hotel, I dropped my bike on the designated rack. I had just 10 minutes to go up to my room, put my swimsuit on and jump in the van for the swim workout. It was now 12:45pm. The swim was crazy. There were about 20 of us packed into 3 lanes. I ended up getting into a lane that was a little too fast for me, but it felt nice to try and stretch out after that tough ride. When the swim was over, we weren't even given enough time to shower and we were being hustled back into the van.

Back at the hotel, I got out of one van and into another to be carted over to my massage. (I will write a whole other entry on the massage!!) A group of us got our massages and got back to the hotel. It was now after 4pm - the cut off time for entering all our ride information!! I quickly logged in and uploaded my info from the day.

I then washed all the cycling clothes I had worn that day and took a quick shower. Then it was time for dinner. The day flew by and there was absolutely no down-time. I hoped the rest of the camp wasn't going to be quite as hectic. The dinner was in the same room as the first night, again, buffet style. There was a re-cap of the day, a small presentation and then an overview of the next day's events. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the dinner/meeting. We had a brutal day in store for us and I fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.

4 Man Team Time Trial

When I got a message from P2 about joining in for the Apache Team Time trial, I had mixed emotions. I was elated to have been asked, nervous that I was out of my league and saddened by the reason the originial 4th teammate had to drop out of this race. Though I haven't really ridden much with these women lately, I was excited about the opportunity to be able to participate in such an intense, team-focused event.

I arrived at P2's house just a minute or two ahead of schedule. We had to swing by to get Ginga, stop by a gas station to get some Gatorade and we were headed out to Utica! We were on the road for about 20 minutes when P2 needed to pull over. FLAT TIRE! I started walking down the side of the road to see what mile marker we were at to call for assistance when a car with a bike on top pulled over. It was our 4th teammate, Kristen! She, her husband and 2 kids had gotten a little late start and didn't even realize it was our cars pulled off to the side of the road. It was me walking in the Apache gear that caught her attention! They came over to help us quickly change the flat and we were back on the road!

We had to make a quick pit stop and decided it would be best to add some air to that spare tire that was now on the right rear axle of the van. Though we thought we were moving along pretty quickly, time was slipping away from us. Back on the road once again, I kept nervously looking at the clock. It was getting really close to our start time.

By the time we got there, the place was crowded. It was difficult to maneuver vehicles on the street. There were teams of 4 cyclists, each team with matching jerseys, covering the road in both directions. We sat on the side of the road, waiting for the cyclists to move and Kristen courteously offered to take our waivers and get us checked in while her husband parked the car. We needed all the extra time we could get. We were directed into the very tiny parking lot and I was glad I had a small car! I followed a guy (I think he goes to my Y) who said he was leaving for SAG support. Cool...he was in an SUV. Plenty of room for my little cruiser to fit right in. I parked and hurriedly got out my trainer, pulled my bike out and put the front wheel on, put on my shoes, got my water bottles in place and secured my bike on the trainer. Wait...another pit stop...ok, now I'm ready to warm up.

Shoot...we have less than 20 minutes before the start! I was set up next to P2 and Ginga, got on my bike and started pedaling away, trying not to be so nervous about all the hard work that I was about to put forth. The bike seemed to be working fine and Kristen rushes over to us saying that we have 3 minutes! YIKES! We quickly started putting the trainers away, filling the water bottles just one last time and we rode on over to the start. Alright, they were a little behind, we had a few more minutes. We took a nice, short ride the opposite direction of the start. I was breathing deeply and trying to calm down. I wanted to give this team everything I had today.

We lined up, wished each other luck and were sent off in a flash. Our order was a little screwed up for a few seconds in the beginning as we had a little clipping in issue, but this was corrected swiftly and seamlessly. The race was on. I think it took me all of 30 seconds to start breathing hard and wondering what the heck I had just gotten myself into. I am sucking wheel here and I am barely able to hang on. The heart rate zoomed up way too quickly and as it was my turn to take a pull, I tried not to push any harder than I already was. In fact, I think I tried to let up just a little. We had 37.2 miles to race and there was no way I could make that distance redlining the whole time. And I was no good to my team if I had to drop off so early in the race.

We took our regularly scheduled pulls for the first 20-25 minutes and then I think my teammates noticed I was struggling. I didn't say a word, but something in my posture or lack of power on the front told them I was just trying to hang on at this point. And this was the beauty of working in a team. They forced me (and Kristen) to not take pulls for a while. They wanted us to recover. P2 and Ginga rotated the lead for at least 10 minutes, maybe more...couldn't count. All I could do was try to bring my breathing and heartrate back to normal.

We stayed amazingly close together, taking advantage of the draft and tucking in on the side away from the wind. Our turns went very smoothly and we all managed to stay close togther, reminding each other to call them out ahead of time and lay off just a little to bring the group back together. We were all back in normal rotation now and Kristen showed just how much she recovered by taking these monstrously strong, long pulls. I was at the very back of the train and I felt like I was hammering just to stick with them! SO THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO RIDE WITH EXPERIENCED CYCLISTS!!! We communicated, watched out for each other, encouraged each other and suffered with each other.

These women were amazing. Now it seemed Ginga was struggling. All those pulls she was forced to take early on had apparently caught up to her. We all took turns pulling, getting back in rotation just before Ginga to let her sit back there and hang on. We lost her for a little bit, but her determination wouldn't let her slip away...just a minute or two later, she was right back with us! Now I could tell P2 was struggling because she became quiet. The sweat was pouring off my face and I wondered how much longer we had to go. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up this pace. But I can't let the team down! My computer wasn't working, so I really had no idea how far we went nor how fast we were going. I just left it all out there.

Not soon enough, we could see the finish. HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER! Kristen easily pulled ahead of all of us and though I tried to catch on her wheel, she was much too strong for me and I had to yell to her that I lost her. But just as soon as I'd gotten back on her wheel, she'd give another burst of her powerful pedal strokes and in the blink of an eye, I'd be off her wheel again. P2, Ginga and I just put our heads down and pedaled our hearts out. We all crossed the finish line together!

I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing team of women. We all gave our best and though we didn't place, we are very proud of our accomplishment. We couldn't have communicated any better. You'd think this team had been riding together for years, it was all so smooth. It hurt. Oh boy, did it hurt! This was one of the hardest rides I've ever done, but it was also one of the most fun. Thanks, Apaches, for letting me be a part of this awesome team. Hope we're able to do it again in the future!

It Takes Two

As CJB and I drove down to the 2 Man TT (Time Trial) this morning, I think we were both sort of "testing" each other out. What did we expect from one another? He's been riding very strong all year and I wondered how much I would hold him back. We always say things like, "Yeah, we're just in this for fun," and yadda, yadda, yadda. But the truth is that we're both super competitive and neither of us wants to let the other one down, so we end up pushing each other to the limit.

As with the other bike races I've done, there were lots of different team jerseys and a pretty huge bike-geek factor going on. Lots of aero helmets (sorry, CJB!), disc wheels and even those fancy shoe cover things that supposedly make you more aerodynamic. The intimidation factor is high and I start to wonder why I even try to compete at cycling events. I said hi to a few Apache members and CJB and I headed back to our bikes to get in a quick warm up. Even though we were one of the early starts, it was already getting hot out.

We waited nervously in the corral waiting for our turn to start. Neither of us was feeling very spunky today, but I think we both knew we would be laying it all on the line today, no matter how bad it was going to feel. The starter guy gave us a countdown and we shot out of the start quickly. Within seconds, our speeds shot up to 25 and 26mph. WOW, I thought, we're really flying! Even though CJB and I haven't done a ride together in....hmmm...6 months?....a year?....well, no matter, our exchanges, planned every 30 seconds, went very smoothly. We soon caught and passed the team that started just one minute ahead of us. The pace was still very strong, but it was early. And soon we would pay as we made our first right turn and headed into the wind. Crap. It was tough. With each pull, I could feel my legs working much too hard for so early on in the race, so I started cutting my pulls short. And CJB was a trooper and he held to the 30 second rule and sometimes even pulled longer. He knew I was struggling. The sweat was dripping off both of us as I kept trying to focus on keeping my cadence up. I couldn't wait for the next turn.

Around the turn we went, me in front this time (I was dropped fast on the first one), and stronger, more powerful winds smacked us in the face. I wanted this to be over. Dare I tell CJB that I couldn't do this any more? This was so hard, and every time he pulled in front of me, I would drop and have to ask him to slow down. I certainly wasn't having any fun at this point and I couldn't believe we had a whole second loop to do. The team we passed now passed us back and we had nothing more to give at this point. I again tried to focus on my cadence and kept waiting for the next turn.

On the third turn, we were met with a huge relief from the wind. Our speeds picked up again quickly and, once again, we passed that same team. I must admit, it felt good, but I also knew that we had to face those two terrible stretches again, so we shouldn't be hammering just yet. But it felt so good to go fast! We had to slow down considerably around the next turn as the team in front of us deliberately threw down a water bottle, but didn't make it to the side of the road, so it rolled around in the middle. A volunteer jumped out in the street to pick it up, but missed just as another team was passing us with their disc wheels. There was too much going on - the other team, the volunteer, and the rolling water bottle. The best way to get through that turn was to take it slow and make sure we stayed with rubber to the road.

Then we saw another team and I began the chase. CJB kept trying to slow me down, conserve energy. But the eye of the tiger gets the best of me and I pull and keep the pull enough to pass that team. It didn't take long for them to pass us back. UGH! I can't give up that easily, and I go after them again, this time just before that dreaded turn into the wind. Surprisingly, I take it much better this time and it doesn't feel quite as painful. CJB seems to be struggling a little and I realize that I made him do most of the work on the first loop. Oh man, this better not come back to bite us! So now I try to take a little bit longer pulls and our speed seems agonizingly slow. However, a look down at the computer shows 17-18 for most of the stretch and I decide that's not so bad for this ridiculous wind. We make the turn into the second-to-last stretch and once again, the headwind hits us like a ton of bricks and the speed drops considerably. Once again, every time CJB pulls ahead of me, I drop a bit back. But I refuse to ask him to slow down for me anymore, I just start hammering, knowing that once I jump on the wheel, it will feel better.

Now I'm counting down the miles for us. Our conversations are at a minimum as we both struggle for breath. I do feel like we were drawing strength from each other. Deep down, I was wishing he would just slow down so I could catch a break and I have to wonder if he was thinking the same thing. It would be so easy for us to slow down. But of course, neither of us said a thing as we kept pushing on.

I couldn't help but smile as we rounded the last turn. We were greeted with a nice tailwind and, just as in the first loop, our speeds skyrocketed back up to the mid-20s. GO! We have just 2.5 miles left. We went back to our 30 second pulls and with each one, each of us got stronger. I think this was our fastest stretch of the race and it was brutally hard, but neither of us let up. I could now see the finish and I shifted into the highest gear I had. I heard CJB yell "I'm off!" and I yelled "KEEP GOING, WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" I knew he could give a few strong pedals and he'd be right there. And so he caught up fast and we crossed the line with a strong finish and feeling great about the effort.

I know I couldn't have gone as fast without him. I only hope I was able to hold up my end of the bargain. Time trials are a great way for teammates to bring out the best in each other and encourage each other to continue and push on, even when you think you can't. I have no idea how we ranked compared to the other teams yet, but no matter what, we gave it our best effort and that feels good.

Team Time Trial

Today was my first ever TEAM time trial. Not that I've done many time trials before (3, to be exact), but I've always done them alone. The art of a team time trial includes peeling off smoothly and drafting...2 people working together for the benefit of both. The clock only stops when both people have crossed the finish line, so it does you no good to leave your partner dragging behind.

I headed up to Garden Prairie, otherwise known as middle-of-nowhere in IL, with Brett Petersen and Sally, fellow Salt Creek Triathlon Club members. I learned a few things in talking with Brett on the way up to the race. First, if you list a team you are racing for, you must wear that jersey. If you race as "unattached" or no club listed, you must wear a jersey with no writing on it. Additionally, you must have sleeves. Therefore, the tri club uniform tops were no good...we had to wear shirts underneath. I guess it's a safety issue, your shoulders need to be covered. Therefore, even the top (which has no sleeves) with arm warmers is considered "illegal." This wasn't really an issue for me...it was chilly anyway, so Sally and I had decided to wear thin, long-sleeved under armor shirts underneath our jerseys.

We arrived in Garden Prairie with plenty of time. We met other club members, Tom, Chris and Miguel there. It was a beautiful day, sunny, seemed like very little wind, but it was a bit chilly. I actually wondered if I should keep the long pants on and pull on arm warmers over my thin under armor!

We quickly pulled the bikes down off the car and prepared to warm up. I don't really know the protocol for warming up for a bike race. I mean, in triathlon, I typically use the swim as the warm up. But a 40K bike race is so short, you need to warm up before the race. But how long? How fast? Guess I could use a little education on that sort of thing.

For Sally, this was her first time trial ever. Sally and I planned to practice riding together at last week's century (or should I say 75 mile) ride, but the courses split up too early and we had no time to practice. We rode together once during the past week and it seemed to go smoothly. We planned on taking 1 minute pulls and when one of us got tired, we'd just shorten the pull for the tired teammate. Sounds great in theory!

We rode around and I realized that, once again, it was pretty windy out! Fellow Apache, Lisa, told me to stop thinking of it as being windy. She said I should figure there will ALWAYS be wind and on the day you get to ride with no wind, consider it a miracle. Interestingly put. Sally and I roll up to the starting line. We are surrounded by teams of men. Men who looked FAST. Majority of them had disc wheels and aero helmets.

Same team of officials at the start line as the last time trial I did. We chatted with them and they commented on the nice paint job on Sally's bike. There was literally no stress or tension as we awaited our start. 5-4-3-2-1 and we were off! As planned, Sally immediately moved to the front. She started hammering and our speed climbed up to 24 mph! I struggled to get on her back wheel and I thought to myself, "Holy cow, this is going to be a fast race!" and I wondered if I was going to be able to stay with her. It's amazing how fast that 1 minute goes by when you're taking advantage of the draft. I pulled in front and my speed dropped to about 22 mph. Then I heard Sally yell, "I'm back!" which meant I had dropped her. In other words, if you are not 6 inches or closer to the wheel in front of you, you are no longer getting the advantage of the draft. And this is the whole point of the team time trial, so I eased up to let Sally catch back on to my wheel.

The wind was strong and it was a nice break when I was able to draft behind Sally. For the first quarter of the race, I'd say we struggled to make smooth transitions, but as we rode along, our communication improved and we learned to read each other better to anticipate what the other rider was doing. The course was flat for the most part, but there were several sections of road with rather large pot holes. As long as you were paying attention, though, they were not difficult to avoid.

As we turned to go out to the "loop", we were passed by an ABD (Athletes By Design) team. They were riding really far apart and the guy trailing looked at me, shook his head and said "I can't catch his wheel!" It was then that I told Sally "There is no way I want us to look like THAT!" That simply defeats the whole purpose of a team time trial. Besides, as I said earlier, it's not an average of your two times, the clock only stops when your 2nd man crosses the line. So why drop your teammate? Just doesn't make sense.

Sally and I cruised along, much slower than I think we both anticipated, but the wind was also stronger than we thought and at times the gusts would threaten to take control of my front wheel. I wondered if my jerking the bike back in line would throw Sally off. I know from riding with other people, you don't want to make any unpredictable, sudden moves. Everything should be smooth and subtle. I didn't hear her complain (then again, the wind was loud!). Slowly but surely, we made our way to the turnaround, where I got confused by the guy telling me "TURN HERE." He was pointing in front of him, but when I asked if I had to go behind him, he said yes. Huh? Confusing. But, the turnaround meant we'd have a little wind at our backs!

As one of my pulls was ending and I was letting Sally slide to the front, I noticed her breathing was pretty heavy. However, she was riding stronger now than she was in the beginning of the race! I told her to take shorter pulls, catch her breath! Now was no time for either of us to blow up. As we continued riding along, we got better at reading each other's signals and we seemed to be making smooth progress toward the finish.

As I saw the grainery ahead, I remember the guy at the beginning of the race tell us to crank it up when we saw this grainery because the finish was near. So I yelled to Sally, "Let's Hammer!" And with that, we picked up our speed maybe 2-3 mph. However, as quickly as we sped up, Brett and Tom passed us with ease. I knew they started about 15 minutes behind us and one of my goals was to not let them catch us. Darn - we were so close! So we pumped our legs even harder. Even though we were only doing about 20 mph when we crossed the line, I felt like we were flying!



This was way more fun than an individual time trial! You get to take a little break in the draft, and you can draw off the energy of your teammate. Though I would have liked to have gone faster, I'd still say this was more fun than any of the other time trials I have done. Can't wait to do another one.

Harvard 30K TT: Waiting for a Tailwind

Lisa and I arrived in Harvard well before our start. After much confusion, we were able to move our start times up by about 15 minutes. Fortunately, the sun was shining and the wind seemed pretty calm. It was a little cooler out than I expected, but I didn't bring long pants, so I was chilled before I even started my warm up.

It seemed to take forever for me to gather my things, put on the necessary clothes and get my bike ready to go for a warm up. In that time, I saw several other people I knew, so I chatted a bit with them and the first time I looked at my watch, I realized we only had about 12 minutes before our start. Quickly, we got on the bikes and headed out for a short warm up.

We headed toward the start line and as soon as we turned west, the wind hit us. Now where did that come from? We were standing around outside for the last 30 minutes and it certainly didn't seem windy! It seemed like it was a bit of a crosswind from the southwest. I knew the course was a lollipop course and that it was a bit longer than a 30K (more like a 32K).

I didn't feel like I had much of a warm up, but it was time to get in line for the start. Some guy rolled up and had missed his start so he kept trying to "sneak in" between riders. This confused the volunteer working there and the official and this late rider didn't seem to care. He wouldn't get out of Lisa's way when the official was trying to tell her she was leaving in 30 seconds. Thankfully, Lisa spoke up and the official scooted this guy out before she was to go off...now he was standing in front of me, but the volunteer kept telling him to move back.

Finally - I get my countdown, I get out of the saddle and try to get a good pace going quickly. The first section of the course was south (I think) and seemed to be going smoothly. I haven't spent much time on my bike lately, so I had no idea what to expect for this ride. In fact, I wasn't on my bike the entire week between the half ironman and this race, so I just did the best I could.

The road curved and it felt like we were going straight into a headwind. It curved again and I thought the headwind would subside...nope. My nose started running. I wasn't wearing a heartrate monitor, but I was trying to keep my breathing controlled. Though the roads were pretty flat, I found myself struggling to get into a comfortable rhythym. I was struggling against the wind and tried to stay aero the entire ride. I kept sliding off the seat forward and would have to stop pedaling to get myself back centered (or even pushed toward the back) of the saddle.

I saw the riders who started earlier coming back. They all looked like they were just churning away in their biggest gear possible. I thought to myself "cool, we'll have a sweet tailwind on the way back!" I continued to fight the wind and my nose continued to run. I've never been a "farm blower" type of chick and I just felt like there was a river running down my face, coming from my nose! It was quite disgusting and made it a little difficult to breathe.

I was passed a few times - by men, but then again, most of the riders today were men. They don't say anything when they go by, like "nice job" or "hang in there." No, cyclists just whiz by you and really crank up the power just to show you how much faster they are than you.

Finally, I reach the point where we start to turn around...I keep waiting for the tailwind. It wasn't there. Ironically, the wind felt just as strong going back as it did on the way out. There was one small section where I felt a tailwind and my mph was at the highpoint of the day - 24 mph - but it didn't last nearly long enough to be fun. I was wondering if my nose was ever going to run out of snot as I wiped it away with the back of my glove.

Finally, I saw the finish and pushed as best I could. Once again, the mph really went up, and I felt like I still "had some left." So I pushed to the limit until I flew across the finish line. I was thankful that someone told me the race was over a 30K or I would have turned on the heat too early. But maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing as once I was finished, I really didn't feel exhausted. I was very tired of riding in the wind, but wasn't physically tired.

I'm thinking 2007 is going to be known as "the year of the wind!"

John Fraser Report

Cyclists must not like to get up early. As I reviewed the information before the race, I realized that the first cyclist didn't take off until 10:00am. I had requested an early start, which turned out to be around 10:30. I've been to some triathlons where I've arrived to transition, had 90 minutes to arrange my transition area and chat with other triathletes, I then swam, biked and ran, took advantage at some of the post-race food, chatted with other triathletes, gone back to my transition area and packed up my stuff and was in the car heading home before 10:30am!!

On the drive out to the race, I must've glanced at the temperature guage in the car at least two dozen times. I watched it slowly move from 51 degrees to 56 degrees. Another difficult thing for me with cycling is that I am still not sure how to dress. For this event, I brought just about everything. I had a thin hat for under my helmet. I had a thin under armor and a thick, long-sleeved one. I had a short-sleeved jersey and arm warmers. I had half-finger gloves and full-finger gloves. I had a thick jacket and a thin windbreaker. I had shorts and long tights. Oh, and toe covers, of course. The temperature this day, however, isn't what scared me. It was the wind. Now, I know the weather forecasters said we were in for some wind, but as we drove by and saw flags standing completely out and the ends flapping uncontrollably, I knew this was going to be an uncomfortable bike ride.

Check in at bike races is also completely different than triathlon. It's quick and hassle-free. There is no Expo, there are no goody bags, you don't wear a chip for timing, etc. Pretty much, you just go in, give your name and they give you your bib. And you get out. Cool, now it's time for a warm-up.

I dressed a little cooler than I thought I'd need to be dressed, pumped up the tires on my bike and headed out for a little spin. As I headed north on the main road, I reached close to 30mph almost effortlessly. Uh oh, I thought, this only means that coming back is going to be painful! I rode up a few minutes, enjoying the beautiful tailwind and then turned heading west. Almost immediately, I had to get out of the aero position because I couldn't control the front wheel. The wind was a bit gusty, and it never really stopped. This tired me quickly so I turned around earlier than I planned. The way back, same thing, extremely difficult to control the bike. Then I turned heading south and....wow, I felt like I was stopped in my tracks. It was like hitting a brick wall. The wind was so strong, I was pumping hard, but the mph showed only 12 mph. As I watched other bikers coming out on this same stretch, enjoying the tailwind, I just thought to myself, "wait until you guys have to come back this way!"

I headed back to my car to drop off some things I wouldn't need for the race, made a pit stop and headed over to the start line. Here is where things go surprisingly fast. They send of a cyclist every 30 seconds. It's amazing how chaotic it all looks with everyone in their colored uniforms all riding around haphazardly, but as soon as they reach the cones, everyone immediately gets in line according to start time.

Before I knew it, there was a guy holding up my bike from behind so you can clip in with both feet. I was given a 10 second warning then a 5 second countdown. Before I even have time to get nervous about the race, it's go time! The guy holding the bike gives you a little push and just like that, you're on you're way. I started spinning and shifting up quickly.

Just when you get into a groove, here comes the first turn. I'm not really comfortable with turns, so I'm sure I slow down a lot more than some of these more experienced cyclists, but right after the turn, I start pushing again.

Almost immediately, I have to remind myself that I have 10 miles to go and coming back is going to be really difficult. Now is not the time to expend too much energy. The course is really smooth and flat, for the most part. I put the bike up into the big chain ring and tried to find a good, strong rhythym. I think I was only 3 miles into the course when I was passed for the first time...and then got passed again almost immediately after that. Well, that sucks! This means these guys were already 30 seconds and a minute ahead of me and I wasn't even half way through the course! (I learned later they were even further ahead of me than I thought). The wind didn't seem so bad, so I was trying to take advantage of that without blowing up. However, as I watched the cyclists coming back (this was an out and back course), I could see the grimaces on their faces and I knew the ride back was NOT going to be pleasant!

Then came the turnaround. And I'm VERY slow at this one. I know I need to practice it! It just seems like such a narrow space to turn around. The volunteer pretty much shakes his head at me for how slow I go around, but hey, I didn't unclip this year! And then the wind hits. Truth is, it was there on the whole way out, which I didn't feel so much, but on the way back, it once again tried taking control of my front wheel. As soon as I was able to get a little speed going, I had to put it back down into my small chain ring in the front.

OK, I thought, a little less than 5 miles of this. This strong wind made going up the couple of small hills on the course seem very difficult. Once again, I saw the speedometer drop to 12 mph and I couldn't believe that was as fast as I could go given the effort I was putting out. My nose was running, but I didn't dare take my hands off the handle bars. The wind was gusting almost regularly which, again, gave me trouble steering. I felt like my whole bike was leaning to the left in order to prevent being blown over by the crosswind. And toward the last 2-3 miles of the ride, it felt like the wind would slow down and it became quiet, so I'd crank up the gears on my bike to try and pick up speed. Unfortunately, the wind only subsided for a few seconds, so as soon as I'd get my bike in a higher gear, the wind started up again and I'd have to shift back down. My front wheel was all over the place and it was more than just a bit unnerving.

I was really happy when this ride was over! I think this was one of the toughest rides I've done. I can only remember one that was tougher - a century ride where we had strong winds coupled with much colder weather. And at that time, I was completely unprepared with what to wear on a ride in those conditions.

I saw lots of Apaches during the ride, but everyone is so hard to recognize when they're going by so fast! As I went back to my care, I saw some other Apaches preparing to race and wished them well. Here's Pascale warming up.


And then we have Liz and Stan warming up.


Unfortunately, I had some things to do in the afternoon, so I couldn't stay to watch the rest of my fellow Apaches race. There was a bit of concern about the wind, of course, but now it looked like it might rain. However, as I look at the results I can see they did well and I'm honored and proud to have them as friends and call them my teammates!

Changing Tubular Tires

In preparation for this mornings time trial (bike race), I decided that I needed to re-mount my tubular tires on my racing wheels. I wasn't very stressed out about it because I haven't even decided if I would be using the race wheels for this short, non-triathlon race. But, either way, I knew it was recommended to re-mount the tires every year or so just to make sure they stay on properly.

About two weeks ago, I bring the wheels (Zipps) up from the basement. They proceed to sit on my living room floor for a few days before I go back down to the basement to retrieve the tubular tire tape and levers to get the tires off. So one evening, I sit down to try to pry the tires off. For 30 minutes, I pulled, yanked, tugged, pryed and anything else you can think of! And I was still on the first tire! These things were really mounted on well! I was sweating profusely and getting more frustrated by the second. This made me think - if and when I ever get a flat with these in a race, I'm out. This is ridiculous!

I was finally able to get the first tire off (total of about 40 minutes). This tire had a big gash in it. It wasn't totally through, but a good section of the tire was just missing. Good thing I decided to take on this little project as now I need to not just re-mount the tires, but I needed to put on new ones. I moved on to removing the second tire. This was a bit easier and took me only 25 minutes. This one had been taped on vs. glued on. But by the time this was over, I had had enough. I was done with the wheels for today. Too much effort.

Several more days go by and I go back down to the basement to bring up my new tubulars I had "in stock". I planned to put them on the rims to stretch them out before I actually taped them on. With the type of race wheels I have, you need to put on a valve extender. I tried this little trick BC taught me of putting a little bit of tape on the threads of the valve before putting on the extender. And here we go again with the pulling, stretching, yanking, etc. I was cursing these tires and I swear they were the wrong size. I think it took me at least an hour to get both of them on...and this was just the stretching out part!!! Once again, I don't see how people can do this when they flat in a race. Putting the stupid tire on is harder than the doing the race itself! Once again, frustrated and thinking this whole process was taking too much time, I left the wheels, with new tires just stretching out on the rims, out in the family room floor for another day.

So when I finally go out and get the pump and try to put air in these tires, it doesn't stay. It just leaks out as fast as I can pump the air in. You've got to be kidding me! I take the tires off, mess around with the valves and extenders and here we go again with the monstrous task of getting the tires to go back on the rims. The good thing here is that it DOES get easier the more times you do this. But, after about 3 attempts, I still can't get the air to stay in the front tire. This is when my hero, BC, offers to help me get this right. And, like magic, he gets this to work in all of about 15 minutes. I tried to pay such close attention because I need to learn how to do this myself! I greatly appreciate his help, but it sure makes me question my mechanical abilities!!

So FINALLY, the tires are all mounted and ready to go. Just hope I am.